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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Swaddled in the Grille

"I'll go," I wrote here several days ago, "snatch up my oldest, most bedraggled, well-loved Bible and hold
onto it for dear life....."

Well, I did it. I picked up that Bible, just after posting those words, and began to read. Knowing I was indeed being called back to Basics, I
went straight to my favorite epistle. I wanted to read not just
snatches, but a chunk - a whole book over a matter of days. So I began
Philippians. But before sharing what happened, I will let you in on
something that has been (secretly) troubling me.

Over
the years, I've watched some once-prayerful friends make dreadful
decisions. Many of us can relate to this, I'm sure. We have probably
all known someone, maybe a number of someones, who've seemed to love God
with all their hearts - and then have made serious choices to walk away
from Him. I don't have to list ways in which this happens, but these
all boil down to choosing one's own will over God's.

I
have found this worrisome not only for the persons themselves, as has
indeed been the case, but also for myself. After all, if it happened to
them..... well, you can complete the rest of that thought...

During
times of distraction and spiritual aridity, concerns about my own
vulnerability can plague me. I find myself praying for my own eternal
salvation. Never a bad thing to do, of course, but the troubling part
is when I start to actually worry about it. It is a good thing to
realize I can fall, for then I watch out for stumbling blocks and I
avoid occasions of sin. It is not productive, however, to fret and feel gloomy and hopeless and doomed.

So
... with this in the back of my mind, I began to read Philippians. And
there it was. In chapter 1, verse 6, there it was. It was as if a bar
of my grillwork suddenly reached out and cradled me, enfolding me in
the safety of a warm embrace.

"I am sure of this
much: that He who has begun the good work in you will carry it through
to completion, right up to the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

I
can sometimes forget, as I strive to relate to the world "through
grillwork," that my grille does more than remind me not to judge nor
envy nor slander. It is also an amazing, tender, loving comforter.

Being made primarily of Scripture, my grille swaddles me firmly in the healing love of God.

THE CLOISTERED HEART IS a way of living for God in the midst of the world. It is heart monasticism that can be embraced by married or single persons, religious or lay. It's an analogy in which our lives can be "monasteries," our hearts can live in the "enclosure" of Christ, and all things may be viewed through the will of God as through a "grille."